Meet Frida! She's a five month old Basenji from Venice, California here for our Three-Week Puppy Board and Train Program! Frida is friendly once you get to know her, but she can be skiddish around new people and places at first. She loves chasing the cat around the house and has a lot of work to do on her household manners. She also decides for herself if she wants to listen to her basic commands, and has trouble walking properly on a leash. Over the next twenty one days, we'll work with Frida on her manners in and out of the house, hone her basic obedience commands, teach her how to ignore distractions, and show her how to be the best pup she can possibly be! Stay tuned for Frida's three week transformation!
Pupdate: 5/3/2024
After I picked up Frida, we headed over to Almansor Park to get to know each other! She was a bit skiddish and wanted to pull away from me on the leash. I asked her for her basic commands to see if she would give me anything, but she was still too nervous to follow through. I pushed her butt to help her with a Sit command, and she gave it to me at that point. Once she really knows these commands and is comfortable around me, I'd like her to follow through every time she's asked, without hesitation.
After that, I tried kneeling down to see if she would be more comfortable with me. This worked well, and she found it much easier to approach me. She even leaned up against and allowed me to pet her all over! We continued this and then eventually she began walking next to me a little more politely without trying to pull away.
At home, I let Frida sniff around my house to try to get her comfortable here. She was hesitant at first, especially when she saw my dog, who is much larger than her, but after a few minutes she was walking around with much more confidence. I believe she is settling in well so far!
Pupdate: 5/4/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training! My main goal was to get her walking with me a little more politely. We call this our Heel command. I want Frida to walk at my left side with her ears next to my leg. Frida doesn't seem to pull forward with me too much, but she definitely pulls backward and wants to stop to look at everything while walking. In order to help with this, I introduced her to a prong collar, and we began by doing simple leash pressure exercises to help her understand she needs to go with any leash pressure rather than pull against it. One she started moving with the pressure more easily, we started actually walking with the prong collar. This went very well, and she is already started to find the correct heel position. She still needs a lot of work to tighten it up, but her progress for today was great!
Pupdate: 5/5/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training!
In the above video, you can see us working on her Heel command. She's doing great so far, and tends to stick to my side when around low distractions. She got excited and wanted to pull away when a big German Shepherd walked near us, but even then she came back around to me very easily. We started working on her auto sit today, which means I want her to go ahead and sit when we stop walking, without me having to apply any pressure or ask her for the sit directly. Again, when we were in quiet areas with no distractions, she did a great job with this, but other dogs and children running by got her a little bit excited! Other than that her day went smoothly and she behaved very well.
Pupdate: 5/6/2024
Frida and I went to the Santa Monica Pier today for training! We continued working on her Heel command, and added another command. For her Come To Sit command, I want Frida to come to my right side when called, walk around my legs, and sit at my left side with her ears at my leg. She's doing a great job coming to me when I ask, although she's still having some trouble sitting in the correct position at the end of the motion.
This was a very crowded environment for little Frida, so the fact that she behaved well and was able to maintain a solid heel position for much of the time was impressive to me. She got distracted a few times by all the noises and people, and she tried to jump on me a couple times, but that is still to be expected at this point in her training, especially in such a high level area!
Pupdate: 5/7/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training! She was a little tough for the first part of the day, and wanted to do her own thing while we were at home in the early morning after she went out for her morning potty break. She didn't seem to want to go out with me, and just wanted to nap inside my home. Once we got out and started playing around, however, she started to understand that going out meant a great deal of fun for her too! Once we got to the park for our main outdoor activities, she was playing so hard, it was difficult to keep her under control. Luckily, she began performing her commands when asked and generally doing a good job.
Pupdate: 5/8/2024
Frida and I walked around downtown Alhambra today! She needed a great deal of walking before she started behaving well. Once she got the hang of it, the walking didn't seem to affect her a whole lot, even with the traffic noise!
We also stopped by the park so Frida could have some fun time!
Pupdate: 5/9/2024
Frida and I went to the park in the morning and Home Depot later in the afternoon. Getting her playing around with me made her troubles at the store nearly disappear. When we first got there she wasn't a huge fan, and the loud noises of the forklifts didn't help. She did a good job of walking through the garden center, which is the easiest location at the store, and then making our way through the rest of the departments, she slowly became more accustomed and worked with me diligently!
Pupdate: 5/10/2024
Frida and I walked to the park this morning and this evening! Her recall is getting better and better and it is probably her best command so far! This is great as a dog's recall is an important measure in safety. Her responsiveness to her Sit and Down commands are still lacking, as well as her ability to hold them, but she seems to be making continued progress. She had an accident in her crate this morning, but she's been solid with her potty schedule, so I believe she just got excited before we started the day, which isn't great, but that isn't typical of her and I don't believe it was her fault. Frida loves to bark in her crate at night, which I believe is typical of her breed, so I'm trying not to hold it against her, however I'm going to try to make some more progress with her crate training specifically, as well as some potential separation anxiety. Over all, Frida is a sweetheart, but her training is going a bit slowly. I'm glad she likes me though!
Pupdate: 5/11/2024
Frida and I spent most of our day at the park, but the main thing I wanted to go over was her impulse control.
Frida has a hard time holding her positions such as her sit, down and place commands. To practice this in a more comfortable environment, I use a nice soft bed that she likes. In a more distracting environment she has trouble holding the positions, whereas on her bed she has trouble getting on and off with verbal commands. Practicing both of these things consistently is, I believe, the best way for her to proceed.
Pupdate: 5/12/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training! Since it's mother's day, (happy mother's day by the way!) There was plenty going on around the park. Her behavior was very good and she walked with me without any issues. Her other commands are still improving, but it was tough with the various parties going on. I would say today was her best day so far, which is great because it means she is making progress! On another note, I will be increasing her food from here on out. She's a growing girl and I don't think her current diet is keeping up with all the exercise she's been getting with me. I am increasing her kibble by about a quarter cup per meal but keeping the amount of topper and add ins about the same.
Pupdate: 5/13/2024
Frida and I went to Whittier Narrows Park today for training! She got to be around some other trainers and their dogs. She did a great job ignoring those distractions! We worked on her Place command and she loved it! Some of her other commands are a bit rough, but she behaved very well! She was a little excitable and tried to bite her leash when we first got there, but once she calmed down, she did good job!
Pupdate: 5/14/2024
Frida and I walked to the park today for training! We walked with my other board and train dog and they got along very well. At first, Frida wanted to play instead of focus on walking, but she eventually settled down and both dogs did well walking politely next to each other! At the park, Frida did a good job with her commands, and only tried to bite my leash a couple times when she didn't want to do something. She did well today, especially when having to do commands right next to a new dog!
Pupdate: 5/15/2024
Frida and I went to the park today for training! I noticed one of the things Frida gets the most distracted by are the birds. To try to work on this, we spent most of our day by the ponds where the most pigeons, geese and ducks tend to hang out. She would get excited to see them, especially when some of the fly down and splash in the pond, but after a while she started getting a little better at ignoring them.
Pupdate: 5/16/2024
Frida and I went to Home Depot today for training! She was a little defiant right when we got there, but she quickly got used to the new place. She was very curious while walking through the isles, and wanted to look around all the corners to see what she could find. After a while, though, she was heeling with me and doing a pretty good job with her commands throughout the store. We spent about half the time in the garden center and half the time in the store. I believe Frida enjoyed this trip, and didn't seem nervous at all.
Pupdate: 5/17/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training! She was a little bit rowdy today, refusing to perform her commands, biting the leash, and even my hands. We kept working and eventually she calmed down. Once we got home, we practiced more household manners, and you can see in the video the improvement in her door manners from last time!
Pupdate: 5/18/2024
Frida and I went to the park today with another dog for training! She did a great job walking next to me, even with the other dog on the other side of her. She did a much better job than yesterday, and she didn't try to bite the leash or my hands at all today! The park was extremely crowded due to the sporting events, but Frida didn't seem to mind very much. Right now, her biggest issue is holding her positions around distractions, as she will sometimes try to break her sit to go sniff something or explore somewhere. Even with that, she did a good job today!
Pupdate: 5/19/2024
Frida and I went to Home Depot today! She did a really good job for the most part!
In today's video, you can see Frida walking with me and another dog throughout the store. She wanted to pull ahead of us sometimes, but ultimately did well. Behavior wise, she did excellent, not crying or biting the leash. Today, she did even better staying with me, with trying to go down every aisle to explore! She did well with her commands as well, other than a few times when she didn't want to sit right when I asked. Other than that today was very good for Frida!
After Home Depot, we went home to relax for a bit before heading to the park for the rest of the day!
Pupdate: 5/20/2024
Frida and I went to Santa Anita Mall today! She did a really good job in the outside portion of the mall, but had a little more trouble inside.
Outside there are plenty of fountains and places for us to relax and practice, and Frida didn't have any difficulty in these areas. When we moved to the inside parts of the mall, Frida started to behave a little worse, then tried pulling hard away from me several times. This was mostly around the upper floors where we could see down. I also used a slip lead today instead of her prong collar, which I believe made it more difficult for her to follow commands. She pulled away hard enough where her eyes were red and she cried. She tends to be strong minded, but usually she follows through after. When we went back outside, she went completely back to normal and we had a good rest of the day! I think she just needs more time to adjust to the mall environment.
Pupdate: 5/21/2024
Frida and I went to Almansor Park today for training! We switched back to the prong collar and she did a great job all throughout the day. She didn't pull or throw a fit all day. After the park, we went home to work more on her household manners. For Frida's food manners, I want her to wait patiently when I place food in front of her without trying to immediately gobble it down. She loves the topper that goes on her food, so she sometimes gets excited to eat. Practicing this is a great way to work on her impulse control, which is one of Frida's biggest weaknesses, but it can also help with safety. If I accidentally drop something she shouldn't eat while I'm cooking, I don't want her to immediately try to eat it!
Pupdate: 5/22/2024
Frida and I went to Atlantic Times Square today! This was a new place, but Frida adjusted fairly quickly. We walked around a great deal, but also stopped at a cafƩ to see how the dogs would behave. Frida wanted to play around for a few minutes, but calmed down a bit and took a nap. She did a great job throughout the day today, and followed through with her commands better than she does most days!
Pupdate: 5/23/2024
Frida went to Santa Anita Mall today! She did much better than last time we were there. Last time she didn't seem to like the inside of the mall at all. Today, she seemed much more confident and didn't have much issue adjusting. She piddled a little bit I think she was more excited than nervous. Her commands were mostly smooth, although she needed a bit of warmup time before she was comfortable enough to lay down on command. After the mall, we went to the park to unwind for a while!
Comments